swain. 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘥.

chapter three.

Nila sighed for the thousandth time this morning, she hated this. the situation was already embarrassing enough as it was, it certainly didn't need Porco-fucking-Galliard poking it's stupid-fucking-bear any more than necessary.

you know what? if he kept poking that bear, also known as Nila-fucking-Hayashi, maybe she would actually sleep with him, just in spite. nothing more.

ah, who was she kidding? everyone saw it, even she saw it. the longing looks, the blushing, the teasing, the lingering touches... oh, Nila and Porco had fallen hard for each other, that wasn't too hard to see.

the only thing stopping the two of them from getting together, was the combined stubbornness of the lovebirds. they'd never admit to themselves how the other made their heart beat quicken, how every touch was inching either of them closer and closer to— her face heated up at the thought, her palms coming up and trying to slap the redness away.

Porco, who was walking next to her with his hands in his pockets, looked at her with a cheesy grin and bumped her with his elbow.

"still thinkin' about this mornin'?" he teased, which she scowled at.

"stOp!!!" Nila punched his shoulder, which made him fall out of step and stagger away for a second as he rubbed the spot her fist made contact with.

"ouch!" he laughed, falling back into step with her as they made their way down the pier.

"do...." she started, but decided to not finish. "never mind." she shook her head, her hair falling into her face.

"Nila," he spoke in that same irritatingly attractive tone that he always used on her. "you can talk to me, please."

the two just stared at each other for a while before Nila looked off towards the horizon, no longer wanting to make eye contact.

"listen, Pock..." she mumbled, not quite wanting to say what she was about to. "i've been thinking," she turned back to him, meeting his gaze once more, "i'm gonna go on that mission— sabbatical, whatever they wanna call it."

his eyes went wide, his natural breathing thrown off course. "what?"

"i'm gonna go, i have to." she shrugged, her lips pulled into a thin line.

"no, i mean— what? we literally just found trace samples of a cure to the titans, the war could be over within a month, if things go correctly," he paused, placing his hands on her shoulders, stopping them from walking. "why do you want to leave?"

"trace samples, Pock, keyword— trace. we have no definitive proof it'll work on us, the Pure Titans, maybe, but we're a whole different breed from them, dude." she jerked her shoulders back, letting his hands fall off them.

he frowned, watching as she turned around and edged closer to the fence-lined port. "you were overly confident in all of this, just yesterday. what changed overnight?" he followed her to the fence, leaning on it.

"i have no recollection of the past 12 hours, that changes a lot for me." and the knowledge i might've slept with you— Nila, stop it. she sighed, shaking her head again. "i need clarity." she turned to him and she just looked miserable, he could see that and it hurt so very bad.

"can i be selfish for a moment and tell you i don't want you to go?" he mused, not really finding the humor in the situation but trying his best to keep her spirits light.

"sure, go for it." is all she said in return, a small smile gracing her lips.

"okay, here goes," he popped his knuckles and stretched a little, "please don't go, Nila. please," he faux begged, grabbing her hands, "i need you."

it was quiet for a moment, all they could hear were the fucking birds screeching at the top of their lungs as they flew through the air. and then laughter followed, such delightful laughter.

Nila slipped her hands from Porco's and covered her mouth as she doubled over giggling, she couldn't contain it. her balance fell and she did too, erupting even more laughs from the two of them.

after a moment of feeling like they were dying from laughing so hard, Porco pulled her up and into a tight hug. she buried her face into his chest and he rested his chin on top of her head, oh, how he loved her so.

"if you want to leave, you can. i'm not gonna hold you back from what you want, but just know that you can talk to me, okay? no matter how much distance stretches between us, what we have will never fade."

her arms squeezed him tighter, she really didn't want to leave, but she had to. she knew that, for some reason, she couldn't be here anymore.

"i love you." she whispered, voice not raising enough to be in earshot.

"what was that?" he pulled away for a second to look at her gorgeous face.

"nothing. i just said... 'thank you.'"

he smiled, hands resting on her cheeks as he pulled her in close to him, his lips resting on her forehead in a sweet kiss. "there's no need to thank me," he said after leaning back, rubbing his thumbs on the apples of her cheeks. "i'll always be here for you."